


Fealty - King Gibbs

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1293]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 05:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19370305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Senior sells Tony to pay off his debts resulting in Tony being a stable boy at King Gibbs' castle. This turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to Tony and to Gibbs too.





	Fealty - King Gibbs

**Author's Note:**

> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 11/14/2002 for the word [fealty](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2002/11/14/fealty).
> 
> fealty[ fee-uhl-tee ]  
> noun, plural fe·al·ties.  
> History/Historical.  
> fidelity to a lord.  
> the obligation or the engagement to be faithful to a lord, usually sworn to by a vassal.  
> fidelity; faithfulness.
> 
> This is for prompt #4 of the December 2018 Five Prompts Challenge located [here](https://ncis-discuss.livejournal.com/159796.html).

Tony couldn't believe that Senior had sold him out like this. He was barely twelve when his father sold him into fealty of one Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Tony didn't hold a grudge against Gibbs.

His history was well known to be tragic, plus he wasn't the one who arranged for the sale. Heck Tony wasn't ever supposed to even meet Gibbs. He was just a little stable boy, traded to pay off some of his father's debts.

Well, he wasn't really a boy, almost a man. He started work at the Royal stable at sixteen. The first time he met Gibbs, if you could call it that, he was twenty and simply leading the horse to his majesty and making sure the horse stayed calm and didn't bolt.

It wasn't needed. King Gibbs had grown up riding horses and could handle the horse even better than Tony could. King Gibbs had ridden off alone that day and Tony couldn't help thinking that he seemed awfully lonely.

The horse had been returned and Tony had taken special care of it, wanting a chance to meet his majesty again and maybe combat his loneliness. The King seemed like he could use a friend and Tony could use someone that could actually see through his masks. He didn't know if the King could, but he seemed like the kind of guy who was used to looking at someone and seeing their true intentions.

Tony had heard all about Shannon and Kelly. How the King had been so happy with them and how tragic it had been when a fatal accident had taken both of them away from the King. The stories after that told of a King desperate to find happiness again, choosing woman after woman that was bad for him as his wife.

It could have been even worse if his advisor, Ducky, hadn't made sure that their were protections in place for the kingdom if a divorce should occur. As it was, no one ever spoke the name Diane in the King's presence for fear of bringing up bad memories and driving the King to drink again. It was no secret amongst the castle staff regarding the dark time where basically all Gibbs did was try to drink himself into a stupor to forget.

It had gotten so bad that Ducky and the other advisors had been forced to stage an intervention. Since then the King had been more careful, but he still drank. There were no romantic prospects and very few friends from what Tony could tell.

He couldn't imagine what it was like to be so lonely. Or well he could, actually, as that's how he'd felt the whole time he lived with Senior after his mother died. He wouldn't force such a feeling on anyone, however.

No one deserved to feel that lost and alone. It was better now. He had acquaintances and people that he could play with even if they didn't really feel like friends, but the King still had no one. 

The next time the King came to the stable to ride, Tony couldn't stop himself from asking, "Would you like some company, sire?"

Gibbs stared down at the young man, who had enough impertinence to ask to ride with him. Very few people would dare to talk to him without him initiating it. This kid was a puzzle.

With a slight tilt of his head, Gibbs indicated for the young man to go get a horse of his own. As they young man shot him a dazzling smile and dashed into the stable to ready another horse, Gibbs called after him, “On one condition, you must call me Gibbs.”

Tony couldn’t believe the King was giving him permission to call him by name. That was a pleasure reserved only for those closest to the King. There were even a select few that called Gibbs, Jethro, but Tony had never dreamed the King would allow him that privilege which only two people had to Tony’s knowledge.

“Of course, Gibbs,” Tony agreed as he returned with another horse.

Tony would never tell Senior this, but his life was actually better being part of the castle staff than it ever had been as his son. They soon mounted and rode out together. Tony let the King lead the way content to provide company.

He couldn’t help himself from talking about anything and everything. He had a lot of questions, but refrained from asking the King, not wanting to be annoying. He couldn’t stop himself from chattering, though.

It was one of his faults. His boss had commented on it frequently. Tony blushed when he realized that he’d been talking non-stop for the last hour. “Sorry, Gibbs. I’m sure you have better things to do than listen to me ramble.”

“Never say you’re sorry. It’s a sign of weakness,” Gibbs ordered, “besides if it bothered me I would have stopped you much sooner.”

Tony blinked owlishly at Gibbs. “Never say you’re sorry? But what if you hurt someone unintentionally? Don’t they deserve an apology?”

Gibbs stared at the young man. No one had ever pointed that out to him. “That’s a good point. Unfortunately, as a King I can’t afford to show any weakness or the neighboring countries would attack us. That means apologies are out of the question for most people I interact with.”

Tony frowned. “That doesn’t seem right.”

“It’s life.” Gibbs shrugged.

“Can’t you change that as the King?” 

Gibbs shook his head. “I have no control over other countries or how they would perceive my actions, so I have to maintain this behavior.”

Tony didn’t like the sound of that, but figured Gibbs knew what he was talking about. There wasn’t much room for talking after that, anyway, as they arrived back at the stables and dismounted. Tony took both horses and led them into the stables while the King returned to his duty, but Tony remained thoughtful the entire day. 

He never expected it to become a common occurrence, but the next time the King showed up to ride, he specifically requested Tony come with him. It became a regular thing happening once or twice a week. Often enough that the other stable boys started giving Tony a hard time about it. 

They thought he was trying to curry favor with the King, but honestly he didn’t really think of Gibbs as the King anymore. He was just Gibbs. When he was with Tony, he didn’t behave like a King.

They talked about many different subjects. There was always something new to talk about either from Gibbs’ life or from something Tony had been thinking about. Gibbs was much the same as any other man as far as Tony could tell. He didn’t seem especially wise or powerful or anything. 

He did the exact same things Tony did, only he went home to the King’s bedchamber and had a lot of politics to deal with. Tony actually learned a lot about politics from their talks. He knew a different side of politics from being raised as Senior’s child and often provided an insight to the King when he was wrestling with a particular issue, though Tony never realized how much the King appreciated his company.

What had started out as just a way to alleviate the King’s loneliness had turned into a fast friendship between the two of them. When a summons came for him to come to the castle, Tony was shocked. The stablehands joked that perhaps the King had decided to take their relationship to the next level, leering and laughing loudly at the thought of the King taking Tony to his bed.

After all, the King could take anyone to bed. Why would he choose a stablehand? Tony did his best to ignore them, but he couldn’t help wondering if that was why the King had called for him. The only other reason he could think of for the King to summon him would be if he had disappointed the King somehow and was to be punished.

He couldn’t think of anything he’d done to anger the King. Nor could he think of why the King would summon him to his bed. There had been no hint of such a relationship between them.

Tony found he couldn’t stop thinking about what Gibbs would be like in bed now, however. It was better than considering the alternative. Of course, it also made it problematic to make his way over to the castle as his pants did nothing to hide his reaction to these thoughts.

He finally managed to get his erection to go away about the time he arrived at the castle. He was understandably shocked when he was led to a room full of people and informed that the King had invited him to be one of his advisors. Tony could do nothing else other than accept and was led to a seat next to an older gentleman.

Most of that first meeting was a blur to Tony as he tried to understand what was going on. Fortunately, Ducky, the older gentleman next to him, seemed happy to take Tony under his wing. Tony’s whole world was turned upside down after that.

He was moved into the castle from the stablehands’ quarters which were close to the horses. He suddenly found himself with a private tutor and his days were filled with learning. He already knew a lot from his talks with Gibbs, but there was a lot he didn’t know as well.

The nation was in an uproar over a stableboy getting what would normally have only been a nobleman’s position. Tony almost considered quitting. There were so many people who hated him, now.

Both Ducky and Gibbs supported him, however, and he couldn’t let them down. He’d been teased both as a stableboy and as Senior’s son, but never like this. Never with intent to harm. 

He couldn’t believe he was thinking this, but Senior’s neglect was world’s above the way most of the people he interacted with behaved now. The only bright spot in this whole thing was the advisor’s council, particular Ducky and Gibbs. It was slow, but he was winning over the council. 

They understood now why Gibbs had demanded that the boy be added to the council. Tony always had a different way of looking at things that often resulted in solutions that had never been tried before that worked better than what the other advisors had thought of. 

There were some that didn’t appreciate Tony’s insight, but well you couldn’t have that many people in the same room and have everyone like each other. As Tony started to get a better understanding of things, the tutor sessions dropped off and he started spending more time with Gibbs again. 

By this time Tony was in his late twenties with Gibbs being early forties. Their friendship deepened growing over time and Tony quickly became a trusted advisor at the same level as Ducky as far as Gibbs was concerned. There were a number of rumors that went around about Tony and Gibbs sharing a bedchamber since they spent so much time together, but they weren’t true. 

That didn’t mean that Tony didn’t want them to be true, however. The more he’d gotten to know Gibbs; the more he’d realized that the guy hit every damn kink he had. He had no idea what Gibbs thought about that, though. 

Even the rumors that Gibbs was gay had changed the way other countries treated them. If they were actually true, it would change the way everyone viewed their country and mostly not in a good way. Tony thought it was stupid, but Gibbs had to do what was best for the country and even if he was into Tony, there was no way Tony was best for the country.

He hated it and he didn’t think that was the way it should be, but he knew that for Gibbs the country would always come first. He’d accepted that a long time ago. Despite the fact that he knew his love would never be returned this was still the best life he’d had.

He had a job where he was actually helping people and friends that actually cared about him for the first time in his life. He didn’t see very many of the stableboys anymore, but one in particular, Timothy McGee had actively tried to maintain a friendship with Tony and that was coming along smoothly. He also had a strong friend in Ducky and of course, Gibbs, and a few other advisors. 

So he was shocked when a page brought him a note from Gibbs asking for his presence at a private dinner. He’d been to many of the formal dinners over the years, but never a private one. Those were reserved for romantic liaisons. 

Occasionally, there would be a private group dinner of advisors, but that was not what was happening here. Tony had so many questions for Gibbs that he didn’t even know where to start. Still that would have to wait until their private dinner. First, he had to figure out what to wear.

What did you even wear to a romantic dinner with a King when you were both guys? Now, that he was an advisor he had access to even more clothes than he’d had as Senior’s son, so he was sure that he could find something. He couldn’t help feeling like his entire relationship with Gibbs hung on what he wore to this dinner.

He knew it was stupid, but he’d wanted Gibbs for years and the nerves were definitely getting the better of him. Fortunately, Tim had heard through the servant grapevine and showed up to help him out. McGee wasn’t who he would normally take fashion advice from, but he didn’t really have any other options right now.

Tim surprised him, telling him in a no nonsense voice to stop freaking out. Tony wasn’t quite sure how Tim did it, but he managed to get Tony dressed and calmed down just in time for Tony to leave for the dinner date. Tony’s heart started beating wildly again, but one sight of Gibbs standing by a romantic candlelit table calmed him right down.

Gibbs had always had a steady presence, but this was something else. Maybe it was the hope that he could see in Gibbs’ eyes. Tony wasn’t sure.

He only knew that he no longer felt like a runaway train about to crash. He still had a lot of questions, mainly regarding the fall out for the kingdom if their relationship became public. He didn’t think he could enter into a relationship with Gibbs if Gibbs would back out the first time their relationship came under scrutiny by another country. 

Strangely, Gibbs laughed away Tony’s concerns. Tony was actually a little hurt by the cavalier attitude, but Gibbs was quick to explain that all of his wives had left him not the other way around and he wasn’t about to change that pattern now. If Tony wanted out, he would have to be the one to make that choice.

Tony couldn’t help feeling a bubble of happiness at that thought. Maybe this wouldn’t be so terrible, after all. Gibbs also explained that he loved Tony not because of who he was, but because of who Gibbs was when he was with Tony. 

Tony was very touched. He’d never realized that he’d had such an impact on the King. After that, it was no surprise that the date went amazing.

After so many years of knowing each other there was no way they’d run out of things to talk about. They didn’t move on to sex, right away, but Tony was just fine with that. He didn’t want to rush things and end up losing the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Tony knew Gibbs said he would never be the one to leave, but well Tony had had plenty of relationships once he started working at the castle and they too had always been the ones to leave. Though a few he might have encouraged along. Tony knew they were setting new ground with their relationship and that they might be in for a rough few years, but he hoped that this would be the change needed to break some of the stupid things Gibbs had had to do as a ruler.

**Author's Note:**

> The dictionary.com series has 4 stories already written for it after this one, so I will be posting at least 4 stories before I stop posting again. I'm hoping to get more stories written before then, so that I don't stop posting for a while. Wish me luck! 
> 
> It's 2019 now and I have closed my 2018 Prompt collection, but fear not my 2019 Prompt Collection is now open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2019/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;) It will remain open until the beginning of 2020. I'm hoping to complete all the 2019 prompts by the end of 2020. Do not fear I have not forgotten about the 2018 prompts and will continue working through them. It's just easier for me to not get overwhelmed if I keep the prompts separated by the year they were given to me.
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes. Please note if you have already voted in the poll and would like to request more stories you can just add a comment to the poll. Please include the name along with the prompt, so that I can appropriately gift the prompt to you.
> 
> For any authors that want to chat and/or are looking for a place where they can toss plot ideas around and get input from people, you can come join my discord server that is specifically geared towards writing/encouraging people to write and authors. The invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/HFvwpCq). If you're not an author, but want to chat with me about writing/stories or anything else you are welcome to join. I reserve the right to boot you from my server if all you do is pester me about updates, however. *grin* Really anyone who wants to talk about writing and/or plot ideas for various stories is welcome to join. 
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 


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